


Beyond Good and Evil

by Butterfly



Series: Sandstorms [9]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-04-09
Updated: 2005-04-09
Packaged: 2017-10-26 18:26:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/286507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly/pseuds/Butterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daniel watches a sunset. Jack interrupts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beyond Good and Evil

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from a Nietzsche quote -- "What is done for love takes place beyond good and evil."

Daniel dipped his hand into the sand, warm grains rubbing against his skin, and glanced over at the low position of the sun. In less than half an hour, there would be another glorious sunset, the horizon limned with fiery light. The air here, now, was so clear that the desert stretched before him for what genuinely looked like forever. The heat made the air shimmer, tempting the stupid or the hopeful with visions of water.

He hadn't wanted her to cry.

Daniel took in a sharp breath and then let it out again, tasting the arid heat of the desert air. All he needed to do was turn around and he'd see the encampment in the distance. To Samantha and Jack, it must seem a prison, the small village where he was forcing them all to hide. They wouldn't last a day on their own, though, and as long as they needed him, they wouldn't try to leave.

Well, and the rebels likely wouldn't let them. They'd listened when he'd told them the dangers that those two could cause, if set loose in this time. Urshé was watching them tonight and he'd never liked them. Perhaps that came from never having had a chance to speak to them -- Urshé was one of the few rebels that hadn't wanted to learn the 'secret language' of the outsiders. Regardless, their willingness to listen saved him from the headache of worrying about Samantha and Jack running off somewhere.

Had she found her way back to Jack yet?

Three universes now, for Jack and Sam. And it all hinged on whether or not Sam was in the military, apparently.

But from what Daniel had seen, that was enough to make Sam a completely different person. Samantha had Sam's brains, but none of her strength. She had the beauty, but none of the grace. All of the gifts that genetics had given her remained but she lacked Sam's sheer force of will. How had the loss of the Stargate meant that Sam was reduced to this?

Jack... Jack was simple and easy. He was a bitter old man and he hated himself for killing his son and he'd latched onto the first person to show him tough love.

Is that all his friendship with Jack had been? Had he just been the first, in his reality?

The evidence certainly argued that. And while his memories told a different story, they were growing fainter by the day.

Because here, Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter had formed a tight bond against the world that they didn't understand, the world that Daniel did.

"What gave you the right?" Jack's words rang out and Daniel felt the smallest surge of relief, quickly buried. Jack might only be here to... defend his lady-love, but he was here. He was talking, not yelling. Not as angry as he could be. Not much, but more than nothing.

"Sam did," Daniel said softly. The night before their failed revolution, they'd all talked about what they would do if they succeeded, and had to stay in the past anyway. Sam's one certainty had been that she wanted to preserve the timeline as much as they could. Because of her, Daniel tried to keep in mind that even something as small as a grain of sand could cause the creation of a pearl. "My Sam. The original one."

"And that gives you the right to not even ask?" And Jack was a little louder now, a little angrier. Daniel kept his eyes on the horizon, where the sun was just tipping down under the sand.

"Yes," Daniel said. He couldn't decide just what he wanted Jack to do, here. He wanted Jack to understand, to see what Daniel was trying to do. But he also wanted nothing more than for Jack to turn around and leave, without any more talk.

Daniel stared at the sun, blinking against the light, listening to Jack breathe.

"We're not asking you to treat us like friends," Jack said, and he'd stepped closer to Daniel's position. "We just want you to treat us like human beings."

"I saw you die," Daniel said, pulling his hand out of the sand and touching Jack's tags through his robes. "All of you. I saw you tortured and murdered and the only reason that I... managed to escape was because I knew that I had to make things right."

"No, damn it." Jack crouched on the ground near Daniel. "I'm not going to let you do that this time."

"Do what?" Daniel asked, glancing at Jack out of the corner of his eye. The man looked so comfortable in his robes, these days. It was odd, considering that Samantha had yet to make that transition. Then again, some days, he thought that Samantha still hoped that there was a chance that she and Jack could go back to her time and settle down. With two kids and a dog. A golden retriever... or maybe a dalmatian. A playful, water-loving breed of some sort.

"Throw out some disconcertingly horrible little fact so that I'll go away." Jack settled on the ground. "Not going to work this time."

"It's not?" Daniel asked, stopping himself from looking directly at Jack. He hadn't been doing that. That... wouldn't make sense. Oh, hell, like being trapped in ancient Egypt made sense. None of this made any sense and it all came circling back to the same thing.

"Nope," Jack said. "This time, why don't you just tell me whatever it is that makes you act like an asshole so often?"

Now that was a loaded question. Tell me, sir, have you stopped beating your wife? Daniel shrugged his shoulders, feeling suddenly restless, wondering what Jack would do if Daniel headed out towards the horizon.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that." Jack sounded tired and Daniel looked over at him. He looked old, but he'd always looked old. It was odd, because Daniel could never remembering thinking that _Jack_ looked old. When this man had shown up, though, Daniel had immediately wondered if someone that worn out could accomplish what they needed to do to fix the future.

Daniel turned his attention back to the sunset, waiting for Jack to leave.

Jack stayed beside him as the sun dipped below the horizon, the last of the light fading. The dense field of stars shone through the clear sky, so many more than he'd have seen in his own time. Countless stars in the sky, an entire universe of possibilities that he would never see.

Finally, he heard Jack rise. Daniel tried to find something to say, but words had never been the biggest part of his relationship with Jack and he could think of nothing. Jack dropped a hand on his shoulder and Daniel swallowed, pushing back the wave of shock that washed over him.

"Get some sleep," Jack said, voice gruff and low, and then he was leaving.

Daniel stayed in place, watching the stars.

Pondering the meaning of possibility.

 __

the end


End file.
